China- Economy

Reflect on China's dilemma between pursuing higher economic growth and escalating pollution due to industrialization.

Pudong in Shanghai, China

Yi Jun: China is greatly increasing their economy by increasing their industrialization which can lead to more and more factories releasing more waste that leads to pollution.The majority of the air pollution in China is generated by the burning of coal to generate electric power. They do not have that much hydropower to help with demand, and they rely on burning coal which releases large amount of toxic gases that can lead to health problems. Their cars also burn coal quality of fuel that leads to more and more health problems like cancer. Their factories also releases large amount of toxic wastes that pollutes rivers and streams that are supplies of many villages. People in the villages die of cancer and other rare diseases and they also have a shortage of clean water due to most of the reservoirs being already polluted. As seen, China government do not care for its people's health and just continue with their goal of achieving high economy. This would show how selfish they are in only caring for money and abandoning the sake of its people. I think that the Chinese government should begin measures of how to reduce pollution that could lead to a global crisis.

Wee Hung: To improve China's economy, factories and industries have been built. These actions do have positive impacts, but more harm is done to the environment. Building of factories, industries, production of goods, all of these actions not only causes air pollution, but also noise and water.  pollution if waste is not disposed of properly. Factories also produce high amounts of greenhouse gases and these gases are the causes of global warming. Global warming not only affects china, it affects the whole world. Low lying coastal areas get submerged, frequency of bush fires and floods increase, all these disasters have been caused due to the greenhouse gases produced, and china has been the largest contributing country of greenhouse gases. Economic growth in China will benefit the Chinese living in China, but the harm done to everyone else in the whole world greatly outweighs the benefits. Health is more important than money. If earning money will make turn you into sick person with many illness, why would you want to risk it? Sacrificing a little of bit of china for the health of the citizens, and all people living on earth is surely worth it, so I think that China should not continue to pursue economic growth if it is detrimental to everyone else's health.

Sharlene: China is currently the world's second largest economy. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the world. China has many factories to manufacture products and goods and to serve as job opportunities for the large population that it has. However, I feel that China should not build so many factories as it causes many types of pollution to the environment. Although factories are good for the economy of China, the negative effects of global warming will last for a long time on Earth. There are escalating pollution due to industrialization. Pollution such as air pollution, water pollution, industrial pollution, electronic waste, waste, river exploitation, deforestation and many more. Health issues and environmental threats will be present with these pollution caused by industrialization. It will also affect the economy. In 2006, Chinese green growth domestic product estimated stated that pollution in 2004 cost 3.05% of China's economy. This implies that although pursuing higher economic growth for the country, please do think about the escalating pollution by building factories that will not only affect China themselves, but also the rest of the world. While pursuing higher economy, countries can be more environmentally friendly so as to not badly affect the environment. Such as investing in green technology or systems such as the Bicycle Sharing in South Korea. The bicycle rental system allows (without additional charges) someone to take a bicycle in one point and to return it in a different one, where the bicycle can be rented by another user. Importance of environment and health over economic growth does not only applies to China but also, the rest of the world. I strongly believe that every country should consider about the environment when making major decisions for the country.

Shaun: Although still a developing country, China is the world's second largest economy. This is due to its rapid industrialization during the pursuit of higher economic growth. However, this also causes escalating pollution as the factories built emit large amounts of greenhouse gases which leads to pollution. Once China has achieved a higher standard of living, people become more affluent and start owning cars and consuming more electricity. The burning of fossil fuels in the process of obtaining these powers will cause an even greater increase in the amount of pollution and this will continue for the next few decades unless something is done to stop it. Personally, I feel that things will change for the better if the people can keep the environment in mind despite the improvement in their country's economy. This will likely help China's dilemma between pursuing higher economic growth and escalating pollution due to industrialization.

Esther: China's economic growth has been increasing rapidly and because of that, many factories and industries are being built in order to earn money. China is now the 2nd largest economy, behind the united states of america. However, they are also causing pollution to the environment,such as waste gases from the factories. China should be more environmentally friendly so that they can have a cleaner country. It is one of the countries that contribute mosts to the global warming. I think that china should invest in more alternative energy, such as solar panels and wind energy. This would decrease the amount of carbon emissions. That would benefit the population of china even though the economy will be less as there would be less pollution. 

Fiona: I do think that it is important for China to aim for higher economic growth and it is understandable that they are building many factories and industries to improve their economy. However, due to too much industrialization, China has seen escalated pollution and has thus contributed a lot to global warming. Since we can already see improvement in China's economy, I think it should be about time China considers greener and more environmentally friendly ways of improving their economy. Yes, economy is important in a country's growth, but the rate of the amount of greenhouse gases released by China as a result of industrialization is just too much. I believe that China does have the ability to approach more environmentally friendly technology instead of endlessly polluting our Earth's atmosphere. Global Warming is currently a very big problem to us, and pollution and the excuse of still being a developing country is not going to help it now. There is also the factor of China's ever-growing population, with over 1.3 billion citizens currently. It is understandable that they are building industries in order to provide job opportunities for as many of their citizens as they can. However, I believe that it is still possible for China to invest in green technology and provide jobs for their people at the same time, and stop contributing greatly to pollution in our air. They are a part of our world, and a big part of it too, so they should at least make an attempt to do their part in saving this world.